But Rafe was fighting off the blows. No. This was not how it ended. Her child was not going to grow up without a father because of who her family was.
She had zero fucks left to give. And she was not giving up on her man.
In the kitchen, Jonas had Hans pinned down. In the foyer, Dylan was starting to stir. And then there was Noah. Thank Jesus, Noah was moving.
He and Oskar were the only ones still engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He took a kick to the sternum and flew back, but he was up in an instant. He looked savage and raw and lethal. Even as beautiful as he was, that man was nothing but deadly. Nothing but a stone-cold killer.
Rafe was fighting for his life, and she ran straight for him. She didn’t know where it came from, but a roar bubbled up deep inside and she screamed. Her brother looked up with a sneer. She didn’t know where she gathered the strength, but she delivered a roundhouse kick so hard to his face he staggered back, then shook his head slightly as if trying to shake it off. While he was temporarily disoriented, Diana lunged.
Putting her full weight behind her body, she managed to push him back until he was off Rafe and on his back. She grabbed his ears and planted her thumbs in his eye sockets again.
She was not having it. She kept pressing as hard as she could. She was weak and tired, but she didn’t dare let up.
Behind her, someone wrapped arms around her and picked her up as if she were nothing more than a doll. “Let me go. I will kill you.”
“I’m glad to hear that, princess. But let me do this. You go to the panic room. Now.”
“Rafe?”
“Yes.” He put her down gently, and she turned in his arms.
“You’re okay? But you were shot.”
“I’m wearing a bulletproof vest. We all are. All except you. Now go. Let us deal with the rest of this.”
Jakob groaned again. But this time Rafe just reached into his back holster, pulled out his gun, and fired a shot to his shoulder.
Diana didn’t even flinch.
“Baby, panic room. Do not watch this. Do not see the thing that I am. Please go.”
“I’m going but only because you need to stay safe and I distract you. But I’m not afraid of you. I see all of you, and I love you.”
She turned to head for the panic room as she was told, but when she looked around, she could see that all the other men had their assailants either down or dead. Hans, unfortunately, was still alive. Though groaning.
“Looks like it’s over.”
Rafe pulled her close. “Still, go back to the panic room. We need to move the bodies out of here and call the cops. You don’t want to be here for this. I’ll come get you when it’s time to make your statement.”
“Okay, I’m going.” But first she had to see. She lifted his shirt to see the thin fiber that might as well be vinyl for all she knew. Sure enough, there was a flattened bullet stuck to it. “Oh my God. Things like that exist?”
He nodded. “One day I’ll show you all the tech I’ve got. But in the meantime, please, let me do this.”
JJ came storming out of the back hallway. “So who do I call to move an unconscious body? Some guy tried to take Isabella, so Lucia kicked him in the nuts so hard he passed out. Also, I might have kept kicking him while he was down.”
Noah grinned from his crouched position by the kitchen island and pushed to his feet. Jonas shook his head. “Baby, what have I told you? If the guy is down, you run. You don’t keep kicking him.”
She shrugged. “He tried to take my goddaughter.”
Noah groaned. “What the hell were you doing out of the panic room anyway?”
JJ flushed. “Uh…”
Noah just rolled his eyes. “Lucia made you because she was worried about me?”
The pretty blonde folded her arms. “I plead the fifth. So which one of you burly men is going to come take out the trash? I’d do it, but I just did my nails.”
Rafe turned his attention to the team. “Dylan, Ryan, call our cleanup guys to come and deal with the bodies. Jonas, Oskar, you call the feds. Get them in here for anybody who’s still alive. Noah, you go deal with your wife and daughter. If I know my sister, she’s guarding that body to make sure he doesn’t get up again.”